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Post by Rune Lai on Sept 1, 2011 15:49:42 GMT -5
I think I enjoyed that a little too much. ^_^ Clearly I read too much about the first half of the 20th century.
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Post by Anon Mous on Sept 1, 2011 17:46:53 GMT -5
I think I enjoyed that a little too much. ^_^ Clearly I read too much about the first half of the 20th century. It's not possible to have enjoyed that too much. I don't know how many of his roasts I have listened to so many times. He had roasts of: George Washington William Henry Harrison Abe Lincoln's funeral WWII The First Thanksgiving Santa Frankenstein and even Jesus
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Post by ooprea on Oct 19, 2011 5:16:06 GMT -5
Currently I m reading Stendhal's Black and Red
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Post by Rune Lai on Nov 12, 2011 20:39:15 GMT -5
Starting reading Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon. Been wanting to start that series for years. Only about a fifth of the way in so far, but really liking it. It's a bit like Anne McCaffrey's Dragonrides of Pern series, how the bonding has to happen at birth, but the domesticated dragons can talk and speak to anyone, and the bonding is not guaranteed to happen. Also, McCaffrey's dragons were never put on opposing sides. The main character is a former frigate captain (former as soon as he ends up bonding with his unexpected dragon) for England during the Napoleanic Wars, and I really liked the early segments at sea. I'm not sure if that will persist now that he's been forced off his boat by having to take care of his new charge, but I'm looking forward to the rest of the book. It's dragon in a different time period than medieval Europe!
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Post by Rune Lai on Nov 14, 2011 18:27:54 GMT -5
Finished His Majesty's Dragon. Very, very good read. Possibly my favorite out of the dozen odd books I've read this year. On to the next book, Throne of Jade.
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Post by Zero on Nov 15, 2011 0:11:48 GMT -5
After some download and converting into PDF files, I dug out these old stories and put them on my Iphone.
Something called... uh... "Children of Eternity, Children of Fate, and Children of Destiny."
Huh. This Zero guy sounds like a Jerk.
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Post by skylark on Nov 15, 2011 0:34:30 GMT -5
After some download and converting into PDF files, I dug out these old stories and put them on my Iphone. Something called... uh... "Children of Eternity, Children of Fate, and Children of Destiny." Huh. This Zero guy sounds like a Jerk. Huh, I have to check these out. *does so* Hahahahahaha... There is no way in hell this Lark character could get with Schala Zeal of Chrono Trigger. It just wouldn't work. I have to call author appeal on this one.
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Post by Roas on Nov 15, 2011 8:51:35 GMT -5
I might actually do a re-write of everything next summer. My style has changed so much since CoE, it should be updated.
Course...gotta finish CoH first...as well as something else...
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Post by skylark on Nov 15, 2011 14:14:18 GMT -5
This something else wouldn't have to do anything with highschool, could it?
Or is this something else entirely?
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Post by Roas on Nov 15, 2011 17:44:01 GMT -5
This something else wouldn't have to do anything with highschool, could it? Or is this something else entirely? Nothing to do with Highschool. I've put that on hold til you finish your piece. No point in me planning too much til I have whatever you put on the field. I'll be talking about what I've been doing for the past three weeks probably in the next two weeks. I need to finish what I'm doing with it first.
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Post by Rune Lai on Nov 20, 2011 23:52:15 GMT -5
Finished Throne of Jade and the third book Black Powder War. (Yes, I read books very fast. BPW was done less than 24 hours after I started.)
The Temeraire books are a lot of fun. I really like how Naomi Novik integrates the dragons with real world history, but I'd be hard pressed to describe the plot in any one book. There's stuff going on and an adequate confrontation to cap off the end of each volume which is enough that you could stop reading at the end of any one of them and not feel like you were left hanging (which I think more multi-volume series should do), but there isn't necessarily a mounting build up throughout each book that points to a big bad.
Black Powder War in particular doesn't have an overarching plot, even though a lot of things happen, missions are undertaken, and large scale battles between armies are fought. It ends well enough and I'm not dissatisfied by any means. It's just the mission from the outside of the book is not related to the climax event except that in undertaking the former it brought them into the position of participating in the latter.
I'm going to take a break from the series now because I need a little breathing room after busting through the first three books so quickly, and Novik's only on book 7 of what she says will be a nine book series, which will finish off the Napoleonic Wars.
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Post by DarkKnight on Nov 28, 2011 12:14:52 GMT -5
I'm re-reading Arturo Perez-Reverte's "Captain Alatriste" series about a soldier turned mercenary in 17th century Spain (the 1620s, to be exact, right around the time The Three Musketeers took place). Alatriste's adventures are narrated by his squire, Inigo Balboa, son of a fallen comrade of Alatriste. Six books in the series have been written so far and translated into English, with a seventh to come soon. For anyone who likes swashbuckling historical fiction, they're a fun read, despite their jaded and cynical tone. The books in the series, in order, are:
Captain Alatriste - Captain Diego Alatriste is hired to kill two English travelers, only to learn they are more than what they appear to be and gets drawn into a web of politics and religious fanaticism. A fun, quick, and exciting read.
Purity of Blood - A friend of a friend hires Alatriste to rescue his daughter from captivity in a convent. The rescue goes wrong, and Inigo is arrested by The Inquisition. Has a good start and Alatriste's old enemies really shine in this one, but light on action.
The Sun Over Breda - Alatriste re-enlists in the Spanish army and participate in the capture of Flanders, which is trying to free itself from Spanish control. This one is episodic, rather than telling a single story, and is a brutal, unromantic portrayal of 17th century warfare, made all the more interesting by the POV. Light on character development, though, a reverse of the previous book.
The King's Gold - Alatriste and Inigo return to Spain and encounter old enemies when old friends hire him to steal a gold shipment and make it look like the work of pirates. An excellent balance between story, character development, intrigue, and action. One of my personal favorites.
The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet - Alatriste's affair with a famous actress makes him some enemies in VERY high places, leading friends to become foes and making him a pawn in a game of politics. Longer than previous entries, and also well-balanced in terms of plot, development, and action, and playing for high stakes. Probably the best in the series.
Pirates of the Levant - Alatriste and Inigo make themselves scarce after the events of the previous novel and battle the Barbary pirates while tensions rise between the two. Like "The Sun Over Breda," more episodic, and more emphasis on the nature of warfare at the time. Good, but I was expecting more from it.
I'm trying to stay on a historical fiction kick as I put finishing touches on a pirate novel I've been working on for a while (which Solana's graciously been helping me with). Other good ones I've read recently are Fortune's Fool, by Rafael Sabatini, and I'm making my way through Michael Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road.
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Post by Rune Lai on Nov 28, 2011 16:32:55 GMT -5
Nice. I may have to check those out. I've gotten much more interested in historical fiction in recent years, though I wish there was a good way to search for era and location.
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Post by DarkKnight on Nov 28, 2011 17:43:22 GMT -5
Nice. I may have to check those out. I've gotten much more interested in historical fiction in recent years, though I wish there was a good way to search for era and location. Agreed. That would be quite useful. Speaking of which, regarding your previous post... If you're interested in good Napoleonic era fiction, you may want to try Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" series. There's 21 in the series so far, and I've read them all. There was also a good series of TV movies from the early 1990s based on them starring Sean Bean.
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Post by Solana on Mar 15, 2012 9:51:12 GMT -5
Yay, my new book came today in the mail.
Years ago, my brothers and I became addicted to a New Zealand show called 'The Tribe', about a world where all the adults were killed by a virus and the kids were left behind to survive. The fifth and last season left on some HUGE and evil cliffhangers, and someone wrote a book to detail what happened next. I've read reviews and most of the fans were delighted, so here's hoping that it lives up to the show. (Especially the first three seasons.)
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